When the Ad Blocker Suddenly Disappears
Chrome is the dominant browser—but those who recently opened it often encountered an unpleasant surprise. Many popular extensions, including the widely used uBlock Origin (with over 50 million installations), no longer work. Others have received new versions with limited functionality and fewer customization options. The reason for this is the new Manifest V3 for Chrome extensions, which is currently being rolled out. What does this mean, what are Google's goals, and what alternatives do you have? Find out here!
Many add-ons (extensions) are such an integral part of our daily browsing experience that we hardly notice them—until they suddenly disappear. Ad blockers are a prime example: without them, the internet feels completely different. Only then do we realize how overloaded many websites are with ads, how much content pops up, slides into view from all sides, and how frustrating browsing suddenly becomes! To function properly, these ad blockers require extensive permissions in the browser, use complex filtering logic, and rely on a comprehensive set of rules. This system worked well for a long time—but it directly clashed with Google’s business model, which is built on mass advertising and generates billions in revenue each year.
Officially, Google claims to have users' best interests at heart. The company says it aims to improve security, privacy, and browser speed by restricting extensions’ access and ability to intervene. And when it comes to poorly made or questionable extensions, that’s not entirely wrong. Some add-ons slow down browsing, break website functionality, or have highly questionable privacy practices. However, it’s surprising that such tools are still available in Google's own Chrome Web Store! Instead of targeting problematic extensions specifically, Google has imposed sweeping restrictions on all extensions. Many functions are now handled by the browser itself—leaving Google in complete control.
Without boring you with the details of declarativeNetRequest vs. webRequest API, here’s a quick summary of the changes: Extensions used to be able to monitor and modify network requests (such as your browsing activity) in real time by analyzing all traffic and blocking it as needed. While this approach offered great flexibility, it also raised security and privacy concerns. Wherever something is analyzed, there’s always the potential to access sensitive data. Now, everything runs through Chrome: extensions merely provide instructions to the browser, which executes them itself. Additionally, the number of rules and filters an extension can use has been limited. So, while ad blockers still exist, they are now less powerful and can no longer operate as effectively as before.
This is what many websites look like without an ad blocker – slightly exaggerated, of course
Unsurprisingly, these changes primarily affect ad blockers and privacy tools—who would have thought? The first announcements about Manifest V3 last year were met with overwhelmingly negative feedback, prompting Google to make reluctant adjustments. Extensions are now allowed to function slightly more complexly and have gained a few more permissions, but Chrome still holds the reins. Critics argue that this allows Chrome to whitelist its business partners from ad blocking or, with a simple update, disable all third-party interventions entirely. Naturally, ad blocker developers were frustrated, but they didn’t give up. The new uBlock Origin Lite adapts to the new requirements, while other tools have already released updated versions or are in development.
Still, many users are now searching for alternatives to Chrome, which has recently lost some market share to Microsoft Edge. The developers of Firefox have already announced that they will continue to fully support ad blockers and related extensions. Opera and Brave are following suit, both offering built-in ad blockers as well. Vivaldi is still undecided but is expected to transition to Manifest V3 like Chrome by mid-2025. In the long run, it will be interesting to see how independent browsers can remain when almost all major players—except Firefox and Safari—are based on the Chromium project, with Google still being its main financial backer.
My question to you: Would you switch browsers if ad blockers were no longer available?
